Comet McNaught

by Akira Fujii

Comets often enliven the night sky, although few grow as large and bright as Comet McNaught, here photographed with a camera on a tripod by Akira Fujii, from Australia in 2007. Most comets are much dimmer, but can still make for entrancing viewing through binoculars or a small telescope. The long fuzzy "tail" of a comet is gas and dust freed from the comet and pushed away from it by the Sun's wind and energy.